Kids Bring Light, Even in the Darkest of Times
by I'm-A-Lebanese
Summary: What happens in the Weasley household on a daily basis in the time of the first War.
1. Chapter 1

"Arthur could you pass me my knitting please?" asked Molly while she sat in her rocking chair, caressing her once again swollen belly with one hand, while drinking tea with the other. It was halfway though the year, and Molly had decided to get a head start with her Christmas knitting. After all, this year there would be another Weasley baby, and there for another traditional Jumper (or dress as Molly hoped) was in order.

"Here you are Mollywobbles." Arthur said as he passed Molly's knitting needles over with pink yarn tangled around them. "Your knitting something pink again?" Arthur added.

"This one is going to be a baby girl. I can tell. She's rested higher in my stomach then any of the boys were." Molly replied as she set down her cup of tea and took the knitting needles and yarn into her hands. "And plus she doesn't kick as much." Arthur gave a slight sigh, but let the thought pass as he watched how Molly embroidered love with every stitch, happily. Now would not be the time for upsetting her. He gracefully sat down in his chair by the fire, adjusted his glasses on the tip of his nose and read the letter that was delivered by owl earlier that evening.

_Dear the Mum and Dad to be (again),_

_We're happy to say that were gonna be home before the baby arrives. __We have just been told that because of our brilliance, we are able to have 2 months off to meet the new little addition after our service next week. Or rather the fact that we gave the head-leader our puppy dog eyes to which Molly, I'm sure you remember._

"Oh they never change, do they?" Arthur thought as his lips curved into a small smile.

_Looking forward to seeing everyone! We love all of you, including your baby bump, Molls. We'll see you in a few weeks._

_Gid and Fab_

_PS – Tell the boys we're bring presents for our favorite nephews._

Arthur let out a soft chuckle as he finished the letter, bringing Molly's attention to him.

"Everything alright, love?" Molly asked him.

"What? Oh yeah, everything's fine. Just reading the letter your brothers sent us." Arthur replied as he stood up just as gracefully as he sat down and handed the letter to her. Arthur watched Molly's deep brown eyes read the letter. After while, she too left out a giggle and said:

"Oh honestly, they're in such danger but still have time for a little humor. How do they do it?" She handed back the letter and continued with her knitting.

"How's baby Aiden?" Arthur asked as he squatted down in front of Molly and kissed her round tummy.

"It's Ginerva!" Molly said as she rubbed her swollen stomach again, feeling a squirm. Arthur swallowed and sighed, raking a hand through his hair in frustration. He couldn't let her get too excited for something that probably won't happen.

"You shouldn't get your hopes up, love." Arthur said as he stood up and kissed Molly on the way.

"I'm telling you Arthur, this one is going to be a girl. Why don't you believe me?"

"Molly, I've told you a million times. There hasn't been a girl in the Weasley family for over a 100 years."

Molly's face fell, she couldn't ignore the facts. It was true, Arthur's family had a record of the most children in the family, and yet none of them were girls.

"I know that dear." She said, staring thoroughly at the heart patterned blanket "But there's nothing stopping me for hoping." Molly wiped a tear from her cheek with her sleeve. "Oh these darned hormones, they're getting out of hand." Arthur smiled sadly; it pained him that she knew the truth.

"Don't leave me, George!" Molly heard Fred say as little feet made their way down the stairs.

"Then come down with me!" George replied a bit annoyed. "Mumma, I don't feel good." He said to Molly as he stood at the base of the stairs.

"What's wrong, George dear?" Molly asked as she put down the knitting needles.

"My tummy hurts." George replied as Molly opened her arms up, indicating for him to come sit on her lap. George padded down the last couple of steps and started to walk towards his mother, rubbing his eyes and sucking his thumb with a pout set on his face; Fred started running, he was just a little bit behind his twin with an identical expression as well as everything else. George reached his mother and started to crawl into her lap, curling around her stomach as he did so.

"Mummy, I wanna sit in your lap too!" Fred whined as he saw his twin brother curled up against his mum's belly.

"Ok, lets see if you can fit." Molly replied. Fred immediately ran the rest of the distance between him and Molly and, like George, climbed up into Molly's lap and tried to curl up against her stomach.

"You're not going to be able to fit, honey." Molly said softly as she kissed Fred's head.

"Why do George ge' to sit in your lap, mummy?" Fred whined as he looked up at Molly with tear-infested eyes.

"Do you really want to sit in my lap that bad, Fred?" Molly asked. Immediately Fred nodded. "Ok, then lets move to the couch." Molly replied, trying to stand up.

The twins leapt from her lap and ran towards the couch. Molly on the other hand, collapsed back on her rocking chair, running out of steam from lifting her "two ton tummy" as she called it.

"Merlin, I'm getting too old for this!" she mumbled under her breath.

Arthur chuckled as he walked towards her, grabbed her hand and eased her out of the chair. "Thank you dear" Said Molly, whilst blowing a strand of hair from her eyes. She walked (or rather waddled) towards the couch, where her twins sat with a gap between them, silently requesting that she'd sit there. Once comfortable in the middle, her sons rested their heads on each side of her baby bump, and curled once more around her shape. After a short time, Fred giggled.

"I feel Aiden move, Mumma." Molly smiled down at him, but then looked back up at Arthur, who sat in his armchair with a little curve on his lips. Molly sighed before leaning down to kiss both of the twins' heads.

"He's getting excited to see you, dears." She said through a shaky voice.

"Mumma?" This time it was George who spoke "Do I have a baby in my belly?" Molly furrowed her eyebrows, a bit confused.

"No dear, I seriously doubt it."

"But I got a big belly too. An' it feels like something's moving in there." He argued. Molly giggled,

"Oh Georgie, what are we gonna do with you? I'm sure if you go to sleep now, it will be gone in the morning, my love."

"Okay Mumma" he replied with a yawn, cuddling up to her once more. A few minutes pass, and both twins were peacefully asleep. Arthur watched as his wife brushed her hands through their sons copper hair with a light smile. Clearing his throat, he walked over to where she sat and kneeled down to her height.

"Shall I take them up, love?"

"Thank you, dear." Molly replied as she nodded, adjusting herself so that her husband could take the twins from her. Once all set, Molly lead the way to the twin's room and later to her's and Arthur's.

Who could have known that in the darkness, children could bring light and hope for all who needed it the most.


	2. Chapter 2

"Daddy, where's Mumma?" Fred asked as he entered the room the next morning.

"She's in the loo, Fred." Arthur replied as he looked up from that days Daily Prophet.

"Why is she in the loo?" Fred asked curiously.

"She doesn't feel good, son." Arthur said in response, "Why do you need her?"

"Me and George is hungry." Fred replied as clutched the quilt and pulled himself onto the bed.

"Are you now? Well that's not good is it?" chuckled Arthur "Ok, do you want me to make you something?" he asked, finally setting down his paper. Fred immediately nodded. "Ok, let's go." Arthur said as he picked up his son and walked towards the door.

Realizing that Molly was still in the bathroom, Arthur then set Fred down,

"What are you doing daddy?" Fred asked confused as to why he had been set down.

"Go downstairs and wait for me, okay? I'm going to check on Mummy." Arthur replied as he made his way to the loo. Fred nodded again and made his way down the stairs on his bottom.

"Mollywobbles?" Arthur asked, lightly knocking the wooden frame

"You can come in, Arthur."

He opened the door to find Molly sat on the floor in front of the toilet clutching her stomach softly.

"Still blowing chunks, aye?" Arthur said teasingly. Molly glared at Arthur,

"It's not funny, Arthur!" Molly whined as she rested her back against the wall "I'm almost eight months gone and still throwing up every morning...It's Charlie all over again"

"I'm sorry, love." Arthur replied as he sat down next to her. "Is there anything you want me to get you?"

"No, I'm fine, just help me up and I'll start breakfast." Molly said as she got in position for Arthur to assist.

"If you don't feel good Molly, you should go back to bed." Arthur replied as he took Molly's hand, slowly easing her up from the floor.

"Just give me a few minutes and I'll be fine." Molly said as she got to her feet and kissed Arthur lightly, but suddenly retrieved quickly, clutching her stomach firmly once more and letting out a slight groan.

"What's wrong Honey? Is everything ok?" said Arthur with the noticeable panic rising in his voice as he rested his hand over hers.

Molly let out a breath and looked up at him with a gentle smile on her face.

"Everything's fine love. Just a strong kick is all. A very strong kick."

"Maybe you should go lay down and I'll make the breakfast." Arthur said as he kissed Molly's head with worry still obvious in his expression.

"The last time you tried to cook, we almost lost half of the kitchen." Molly replied teasingly as she turned to face him fully, causing him to step to make some room for their child.

"Hey now, you can't blame me for that…if you hadn't been fussing I wouldn't have forgotten to turn the stove off." Arthur said as he started to pout.

"Oh, Arthur. You know I'm only teasing you." Molly said, wrapping her arms around Arthur's neck and pecking him softly "No honestly dear, I'll be fine. Sh-he's just a little hyper today."

Arthur smiled although he wasn't completely satisfied with her reason "We'll at least we know he'll fit in with the family."

Molly chuckled as her eyes looked down to her stomach and mumbled, "Hmm he'll fit in with the twins easily."

"Merlin help us if that's true." Arthur commented jokingly.

"I think you should start praying dear." she replied, cringing slightly as another kick reached her ribs "Phoo, slow down there dear, that hurts…I don't know what makes them think that organs are meant to be kicked."

"Just a little more than a month left dear, and your organs can retire from being punch bags." Arthur laughed lightly, placing another kiss on her head and pulling her closer to him. Molly rested her head on his shoulder, as his hand made its way to her stomach rubbing gently as it moved.

Just then, a knock was heard on the door, and Bills tired voice ran through the cracks,

"Mum, Ron's just been sick."

In a flash, Molly was out of the bathroom and waddling down the stairs towards the kitchen, while Arthur and Bill followed behind. In just a few minutes, the smell of eggs and bacon roamed the house, while Molly stood by the stove and served the family that sat by the table like every morning at the Weasley household. Bill and Charlie sat discussing Hogwarts (to which Bill will be attending this year), Fred and George sat on their padded chairs throwing food ay each other now and again to which earned a few scowls off of their mum. And Arthur was attending to the now all cleaned and happily gurgling Ron; who clutched Percy's glasses, while Percy himself ate peacefully.

"Molly, are you ok?" Arthur asked, noticing that she had turned pale while he feed Ron a piece of sausage.

"I'm fine, Arthur." Molly said, obviously lying. Molly softly clutched her stomach as she felt another kick. "You're gonna have to stop kicking so hard, little one. It's starting to hurt Mummy."

"Molly, you should really sit down. You don't look fine to me." Arthur said as he got up from the chair he was sitting in, passed Ron over to Bill and walked over to his wife, having noticed her hands clutching the side of the counter to stable herself.

"Molly, please dear, come and sit. You're starting to scare me." He placed his hand on her shoulder and urged her to grab onto him. But she simply shook her head and said in a shallow and almost inaudible whisper,"Arthur, I'm fine."

Arthur's speech got caught in his throat as he felt her shoulders slump slightly. Her head fell forward as she took steady breaths, and Arthur could see her hands trembling. The flinches of each kick came fast and hard.

"What's wrong Mum?" asked the curious Charlie, while Bill just stared.

"Mumma? Daddy, what's wrong with Mumma?" cried George but Arthur quickly quieted him down with a wave of his hand.

"Molly please," he tried, "You're scaring the kid. You're scaring me, love." Molly swayed heavily on the spot. "Molly, think of the baby…there must be som- MERLIN!"

Her eyes suddenly became dark and lifeless, gradually rolling into her head. Her swaying came to a stop as her quivering legs finally gave way, causing her to start falling effortlessly to the floor. Arthur quickly took a hold of her waste, stopping her from collapsing completely. Worry was evident in his face, as he lifted her with one swift and carried her to the couch.

"Bill! Get some water. Quickly!" Arthur ordered, and Bill immediately scattered to the sink while the other children fallowed Arthur with terror on their faces. Arthur placed his wife down gently and pulled his hand from underneath her knees to caress her face.

"Daddy, is Mumma gonna be ok?" Charlie asked, afraid of what was going to happen. Arthur didn't answer; all that concerned him was what covered his hand, _blood._ His heart skipped a beat as he realized that she was bleeding.

......

Healer Woodsfield had had a stressful day. To start off, his wife had awoken him early in the morning, persuading him that she had heard something in the garden. After he got that ordeal sorted out, his son had an outburst of early staged magic, causing his tea to explode from his grasp. His daughter had then secretly stolen the floo powder for decoration for the cat's birthday card; adding to his long list of "things needed" and to add to his every day stress. After all, there was a raging war going on.

At exactly 9:00, he began his shift as head healer at the maternity ward. His first of appointments were the ever-so-nervous Mr. and Mrs. Johns, who had recently discovered that they were expecting triplets. A very pregnant Mrs. Bennett was next, insisting that he chose a name for her little girl, due to the recent loss of her husband. Then it was sixteen-year-old Miss Martau, asking about the drug spells that could be used during birth, despite the fact that she was only three months pregnant. To Woodsfield, things couldn't have been any worse, that was until Molly and Arthur Weasley made an unexpected and very hectic visit.

"I need help straight away!" Arthur's panicked voice echoed clearly through the halls "My wife, she's eight months pregnant. I don't know how but she just fainted. And blood. She's bleeding!"

"Calm down sir, we do not allow shouting here." Said the miserable mediwitch behind the counter

Arthur held his breath, holding Molly close to his chest, while she clutched the front of his robes. She had recently awoken from her sudden collapse, but her limbs seemed too heavy and weak for her to hold herself up. Her knees were tucked tightly against her stomach, increasing the pressure to lessen the pain, while her eyes were scrunched tightly together, holding her tears of agony from spilling over.

"What is your name Miss?" asked the woman, finally looking up at the couple with a sympathetic expression on her face.

"Molly… W-Weasley" Grumbled Molly, as she swallowed the scream that dared to explode from her throat, as the cramps strengthened. "Please, I don't know what's happeni-ing"

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while. Our healers are all with-"

"There must be someone!" argued Arthur "This is an emergency for Merlin's sake!"

"Sir, this is a hospital, yours is not the only emergency here."

"Molly, Arthur?" Healer Woodsfield said as made his way towards the couple, with a slightly confused look on his face. "You're appointment isn't until next week."

"We know but something's happened!" explained Arthur as Molly gnawed roughly at her lip. "Please tell me there's at least _one_ healer op-"

"As I just told you Mr. Weasley, there are no healers available." said the young mediwitch, her tone sounding as if robotized.

"What are you talking about Ebony?" snapped Healer Woodsfield "You know that in emergencies, the patient should be treated as soon as possible! Or have you forgotten, once again? If you would like to carry on working here, I would strongly advise you to consider following the rules more thoroughly!"

A stifled scream fled from Molly, causing Healer Woodsfield to examine her state. He soon discovered the main focus of the pairs worry as a red liquid dripped down her legs, finally making it's way onto the floor. His eyes widened in panic, but he tried to maintain his professionalism.

"You're bleeding!" he exclaimed "Quickly, to my room."

Arthur started his way down the corridor with Molly still firmly grasping his robes. Healer Woodsfield turned towards the mediwitch and said

"Ebony, I want you to cancel all my appointments for today. This could be serious." and followed the couple to his office.


	3. Chapter 3

"It looks like you're going to have to go on bed rest, Mrs. Weasley," Healer Woodsfield said as he looked up from the chart he was holding.

"Bed rest?" Molly screeched from the bed she was lying on. "That's not possible! There's gotta be another way! I can keep this baby safe."

"Unless you want another situation like this to happen again, I'd suggest this is the way to go," Healer Woodsfield replied with a sigh.

"I really don't understand. It's not like I've done anything different from my other pregnancies. Why is it now that this has happened?" Molly said as she splayed a hand over her stomach in a reflex of protection.

"From what I see here," he looked down on his chart, "your stress level has been very high in the past few weeks. The only explanation for what happened is that your child is feeling it too. High blood pressure is a very big problem in pregnancies and is very dangerous especially from the 6th month stage forward. You are very lucky that nothing worse has happened to you or your child. This is a clear warning sign that if you go back to your daily routine it would only increase the chance of something worse occurring. You must understand that bed rest is the only option for a safe final month."

Molly swallowed hard and looked down at her baby bump, as her forefinger started tracing its shape. This incident must have been the most frightful thing that had happened to her. The loss of her child was the biggest phobia a mother could have, and therefore she would do anything to stop it from happening. But bed rest? Bed rest was a huge thing, especially when there were 6 others to look after. Not being able to help around the house needed serious consideration, but time was short. Decisions needed to be made about her child's health, and soon.

Feeling the gentle squeeze of her husband's hand, she looked up to meet his blue, worried eyes. His eyebrows were furrowed deeply, which could only mean that he was thinking along the same lines as she was. She gnawed at her lip before turning back to the healer and continuing with her argument.

"But, Healer Woodsfield, we have six other children to look after," she pleaded with him. "You know how much of a handful they are. You delivered all of them."

"Yes," Arthur joined her, "I'd never be able to work and look after all of them at the same time."

"Well now would be the time to learn, right?" Healer Woodsfield smirked.

Silence filled the room as both Weasleys considered what had just been said. Of course it would be hard for Arthur to do her job as well as his own, but it wouldn't be as if she couldn't help a little. While he could cook and clean, she could entertain the young ones with a book maybe, and the older ones with a game of wizard's chess, or even just give them her motherly cuddles. Bed rest wouldn't be all that bad.

"He's right, Arthur. I guess now would be the time to learn," Molly said, breaking the silence with a sigh of defeat.

"What?" Arthur said, worry and shock evident in his voice. "You know how I am, Molls. I nearly burned the kitchen down the last time I tried to cook."

"Everything will be alright, just cook your specialty."

"What, pasta?" That's when Arthur's ears started to glow. Quite frankly, he was slightly embarrassed at the fact that a simple mixture of pasta, salt and "Auntie Celia's" ready-made sauce was all he could make.

"Well, yes, dear. I'll give you a few simple recipes also. The kids wouldn't be happy with just pasta every day," she replied while smiling up to her still red-eared husband.

"Molly, you know I can't cook."

"I said 'simple recipes', dear." She smirked.

Arthur looked at his wife for a moment and then leaned down and kissed her with his lips curling at the sides. What's the point of battling when you know you've already lost?

"Ok, sounds like a plan to me."

"Good," she replied and squeezed his hand in appreciation.

"I don't know how you two manage," Healer Woodsfield stated teasingly.

"Manage what?" both Molly and Arthur said at the same time.

"Having 6 kids plus time for yourselves."

"After the first 3 we grew used to having little to no time together, but we always manage to find time for each other," Molly replied as she rubbed her baby bump and looked up at Arthur lovingly.

"That we do," Arthur replied, the love for his wife evident in his voice. That's when Arthur gave Molly another soft peck on her lips.

"It's time for you two to leave, you're getting to lovey dovey for me," Healer Woodsfield said as he tried to shoo the couple out of his office

Arthur smirked, not in the slightest bit embarrassed, and picked up his wife. Molly struggled a bit and opened her mouth to protest her husband's actions, but before she could even get one word out Arthur glared at her.

"The nice healer said 'bed rest', Molly, and bed rest you will get. In fact you will start right now, understood?" he said severely, heaving Molly a little higher into his arms. "Now stop struggling, or I might let you fall."

Molly immediately went limp in his arms and slung her arms around his neck. Leaning her head against his shoulder, she submitted to being carried out of the hospital by her loving husband.


End file.
